Vettriano brought to book by illustrator's manual

Look familiar?: an illustration from a reference manual which might have served as the basis for the central figures in Vettriano's famous The Singing Butler

Artists find inspiration in a muse: Salvador Dalí discovered it in his wife, Gala; Francis Bacon had his lover, George Dyer; and Pablo Picasso found far more than his share of striking women. It seems that Jack Vettriano, painter of sophisticated beachcombers, singing butlers, and clinched couples, could be no exception.

His muse, however, appears rather more prosaic. According to a newspaper report, Vettriano may have stumbled on his inspiration while perusing The Illustrator's Figure Reference Manual, a DIY art book published in 1987.

The link between the manual and the self-taught Scottish artist surfaced when a graphic designer looking for ideas for wedding invitations noticed that there were striking similarities between the book's illustrations and some of Vettriano's best-known works.

Sandy Robb, from Edinburgh, came across the images when a friend asked him to design something in the Vettriano style. "I looked up an illustrator's reference manual which contains hundreds of photos of models in various poses," he told the Daily Record. "In the 'Ballroom Dancing - Waltz' section I found what I was looking for. I thought one image looked familiar, but couldn't think why - until I realised it was from Vettriano."

The newspaper found similarities between other illustrations in the manual and Vettriano's paintings. A dancing couple from the painting Dance Me to the End of Love resembles figures from the manual's waltz section, while couples in the painting Waltzers hold poses that are almost identical to dancers in the manual.

The newspaper also suggested that Vettriano's painting, Elegy for the Dead Admiral, brings together figures from various sections of the manual.

His agent, Tom Hewlett, said that he was puzzled as to why people might be shocked to discover that Vettriano had used a book to learn how to paint.

"It is widely known that Jack is a self-taught artist; it seems unsurprising that as, in his early painting years he had neither time nor the money at his disposal to work with real life models, he should use a teaching manual such as this," said Hewlett, who uses his Portland Gallery in London to showcase and sell the artist's work.

He added: "Vettriano's skill lies in his ability to create narrative paintings with which the viewer becomes involved.

"In this way, he transforms mundane characters into extraordinary ones, and everyday scenes into special occasions."

The paintings are largely snubbed by the art establishment but have been bought by stars such as Jack Nicholson, Madonna, and Robbie Williams. They are also popular as prints and cards. His most famous work, the Singing Butler, sold last year for almost £750,000 at Sotheby's.

The artist, a former coal worker, learned his craft in a Fife bedsit after his girlfriend had bought him a set of watercolour paints for his 21st birthday.

Despite Vettriano's popularity with the public, his paintings have never been hung in his native Scotland's national collections. Richard Calvocoressi, director of the Gallery of Modern Art in Edinburgh, has previously described him as an "indifferent painter".

Two years ago he received an OBE for services to the visual arts. His latest work will be unveiled in an exhibition in April next year.